My Day In Traffic Court

[ErieBear]

Glad to hear that you had such a successful day in court. I was in court the other day for jury duty. UGH. Glad you had a better experience than mine! lol.

[+ FreshFluff]

Glad to hear the good news, Lucky! Why do you think the cops bothered to show up if they were just going to dismiss the charges?

[maxwellissmart]

i have appeared in traffic court when a pedestrian said I struck him with my car and knocked him to the ground breaking his $2300 camera. The $2300 camera was not mentioned until the trial. The pedestrian agreed to drop the charges if I paid for his camera. My lawyer, then asked the judge to predicate the agreement on his providing proof of the camera's purchase or to have the pedestrian bring the camera to the court.

 

Long and short of it, never heard about the case again. Legal fees $1500 Oh, forgot to mention, he showed up in court with a friend, who supposedly witnessed the accident, though the police did not get any information about him at the time of the accident.

 

By the by, i did honk at the pedestrian who was standing in the middle of the traffic lane in a parking lot, talking on his cell phone. I never came any closer than 10 feet from the guy. But he did chase after me after I passed him and two days later the police appeared at my door. Seems he wrote down my license plate number and called the police from the parking lot. I can only assume, he was blocking some other poor fool while he was making that call. All and all, I think it was a scam or he was annoyed at the honk. Drop the case, give me $2300

 

in your case, i would take the deal. People lie. That is the crux of the issue. And a He said Cop said almost always will go to the cop. Real question is the cost of losing worth it. Will the cost of winning be worth it. By the way, don't be surprised if your judge limits your Perry Mason like interrogation of the cop on the witness stand to only one or two questions.

 

Yeah, for about $500 you could fuck up a lot more than that camera. And God help him if he has kids—I'd wait a year and call DHS on his ass. Over and over.

[seeker630]

Sounds like you handled yourself very well and the cops retreated once they saw that you had come competence and weren't going to just roll over!

 

Congratulatons!

[+ purplekow]

Congratulations on your victory. And they say that crime doesnt pay. Oh wait that may not be the right saying for this occasion. Better I guess in this case, two rights did not make a wrong.

[MiamiLooker]

Congratulations. It sounds like the cop didn’t decide to ask for a dismissal until after you asked for the separation of witnesses (not something most non-attorney defendants would think to do). It kind of sucks, though, that the cop’s statement wasn’t heard and discredited. Does the cop’s statement become public record even though it wasn’t presented in court?

[RockHard]

Don't fuck with me, fellas!

 

He then invited me to apply to be a small claims court judge

 

Damn, bitch, you still got it goin' on. Congratulations!

 

If there's room for regret in my fabulous life, I wish I made the time to get a law degree.

[+ glutes]

Lucky 1 / Coppers 0

[+ Lucky]

Glad to hear the good news, Lucky! Why do you think the cops bothered to show up if they were just going to dismiss the charges?

 

This is a very good question. I would love to have been a fly on the wall when the cops were discussing strategy. Since only two male cops were involved, I wondered who the third cop was. He took the oath, so must have been planning to testify. I hope that the other cops told the main cop that they could not back up his story, and thus he caved. Or else he was planning to coach the other cops what to say when they heard him testify, and my separation order put a stop to that. I doubt that I will ever know!

[+ azdr0710]

Lucky....being a lawyer and observing some of this in your area, do you think there is some widespread issue of crooked cops in the PS area?....did you sense the judge knew something was up with these cops in particular?....you obviously knew how to handle this and I'm glad it worked out....

[orbital sander]

Congratulations! You are a clever man. I agree with Anton, I bet your separation order was just the ticket to scare them off.

[+ Lucky]

I do wonder if the third man was an attorney or other kind of legal adviser. When he was excluded, then the cop had no one to help him.

The cop's statement is in the record, but not many if any would think to ask to see it.

 

As for Palm Springs cops in general, I am worried. We had the scandal at the gay resorts. Even the police chief had to resign after making anti-gay slurs.

Then this case, where the cop simply fabricated. Maybe I should get on the police commission!

[Lookin]

VICTORY

 

. . . lawyer Lucky asked the court for a separation of witnesses, meaning that only the cop testifying at the time could be present in the courtroom. This is to prevent the other witnesses from hearing both his testimony and adjusting theirs to fit, but also to be unable to see where he was cross-examined and how that was handled.

 

The court then told the remaining police officer, the one who was behind the charges, to begin his testimony. He opened his mouth and said:

 

“Your honor, we wish to dismiss the charges in the interest of justice.”

End of story.

Congrats! http://www.maleescortreview.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/thumbsup.png Sounds like your experience and quick thinking saved the day.

 

Gotta admit, though, I was looking forward to hearing some of your carefully crafted cross-examination. Can you give us a few snippets, or do we have to wait for the hardcover?

 

 

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31uSlBsvwnL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

[justaguy]

Congratulations, Lucky. My first thoughts echo yours. I don't know how PS is in terms of size and community, but to be on the safe side drive carefully for the next little while. If they're willing to lie in court, who knows. But again, good for you for sticking to your guns and rolling over because it the easier thing to do.

[+ Lucky]

Congrats! http://www.maleescortreview.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/thumbsup.png Sounds like your experience and quick thinking saved the day.

 

Gotta admit, though, I was looking forward to hearing some of your carefully crafted cross-examination. Can you give us a few snippets, or do we have to wait for the hardcover?

 

 

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31uSlBsvwnL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

The sad part about the dismissal is that I spent hours planning my cross-examination. The cop had exaggerated and then fabricated, and I was ready for him. He claimed he pursued me with sirens and red lights blaring, but he didn't, and I don't think his old car was even equipped with a siren. He says the car had a solid red light, but I have a picture of it, and it doesn't. He did have a passenger in the car, a woman detective. She stayed back throughout the whole incident, and did not provide a statement to the court when we did the trial by declaration. Why not? And she did not come to court yesterday. Why not? She should be his best witness, but she took a hike! My guess is that she would not back him up.

 

The gist of the officer's story is that he was in the left of the two right turn lanes. He said as he made his right turn, I came up behind him, switched to the other lane, passed him in the turn, and then quickly cut in front of him, making him hit his brakes. He says that next I braked again, almost to a complete stop, causing him to slam on his brakes. Think that one through. Who in their right mind would do that? Then the phony chase story. He did not charge me with reckless driving, speeding, fleeing a police officer, or any similar charge that would back up his story. All he could come up with is an illegal turn which the court quickly found me not guilty of at the trial by declaration, and then an unsafe lane change. Unsafe lane change? If I made you slam on your brakes by cutting in front of you, buddy, that's reckless driving. And then I fled, fled up to one of the most notoriously congested intersections in town, where I was bound to have to stop! But no charge of fleeing an officer, or failure to yield to an emergency vehicle. If I wasn't speeding, why not just pull in front of me? And why did my erratic driving not merit a field sobriety test? Anyway, you get the picture. I was going to have fun in court.

[Guest countryboywny]

Congrats Lucky! Great news that in your case justice WAS served.

[+ friendofsheila]

Only barely enough time to read that you prevailed.

 

Bravo and congratulations! I'll remember what you did in case it helps me someday.

[+ Lucky]

NOLO Press has a book on How To Fight your Traffic Ticket And Win. I recommend it.

[+ glutes]

"I fought the law, and the law won"?

 

The sad part about the dismissal is that I spent hours planning my cross-examination. The cop had exaggerated and then fabricated, and I was ready for him. He claimed he pursued me with sirens and red lights blaring, but he didn't, and I don't think his old car was even equipped with a siren. He says the car had a solid red light, but I have a picture of it, and it doesn't.

 

California Vehicle Code Section 25252 states that: "Every authorized emergency vehicle shall be equipped with at least one steady burning red warning lamp visible from at least 1,000 feet to the front of the vehicle"

[+ Oliver]

VICTORY ... “Your honor, we wish to dismiss the charges in the interest of justice." ...

 

YEAAA! Let's hear it for the good guys!!!

[edjames]

Good luck. Let me know what "joint" you are in and which cellblock to mail the cake I've made for you which hides the Playbill from the Book Of Mormon and an emory board! LMAO

 

ED

[+ Lucky]

One wondered if the cops, there were 3 of them, were stationed along the exit from the parking lot just waiting for me. But they seemed to hightail it out of there, and I was a free man. But I still can't get tickets to see Book Of Mormon!

3 cops attended, so they must have had the idea that the case was going to go forward. Or else thye just saw an opportunity for overtime. But one cop had nothing to do with the case, even though he took the oath. And the female detective, who should have been their best witness, was not there. I think she knew it was all a hoax.

[JoeBlow]

I've been to traffic court here in my hometown twice. On both occasions, the police officer failed to show up and my cases were dismissed. Other than having to take a half-day off work, the experience wasn't unpleasant.

[+ Lucky]

Little did I know that my case was not over. I received my car insurance statement in the mail today, and it has gone up by $600 a year due to the conviction of the first court. Apparently the dismissal has not made it to the DMV, so now I have to get the court to report to the DMV so that the insurance company will reduce the bill. Not only that, but when the case was dismissed, the fine I had had to prepay was not reimbursed to me. So yet another reason to contact the court.

The officer may have lost the case, but he has sure taken up plenty of my time.

[jjkrkwood]

little did i know that my case was not over. I received my car insurance statement in the mail today, and it has gone up by $600 a year due to the conviction of the first court. Apparently the dismissal has not made it to the dmv, so now i have to get the court to report to the dmv so that the insurance company will reduce the bill. Not only that, but when the case was dismissed, the fine i had had to prepay was not reimbursed to me. So yet another reason to contact the court.

The officer may have lost the case, but he has sure taken up plenty of my time.

 

 

Bill him !